Get Strong One Limb At A Time

One-Sided: It's Time To Change The Way We Think About Working Out

When I was in college, my friends and I tried to make an intramural basketball team, but our best player twisted his ankle and couldn’t play. Or so we thought. One evening, we were shooting hoops and this guy started limping on his good leg, dropping threes, and amazing us all.

We nicknamed him “One Leg.”

Aside from sounding like an old man recounting his yesteryears, this story has a point: we have two arms and two legs that move independently — so why do we work out like they don’t?

Look, if you want to sculpt a sexy body, melt those love handles or just feel more confident walking around town, you need to build some strength. This is non-debatable.

Which exercises you use, however, is.

Many coaches and trainers still stick to the old-fashioned strength exercises: the squat, the dead lift, the bench press, the chin-up, the barbell row, etc. — exercises where both arms or both legs work at the same time, called “bilateral training.”

For many guys, however, this is like forcing a square peg through a round hole. Not all guys can master the movements, not all guys can do them pain-free and not all guys should put 250 pounds on their back. Most of us don’t care to set records or lift the roof off the gym.

We just want to look good.

It turns out there's a different way to train. One that’s easier on your joints, gets the same — if not better — results and unlocks more extras for your body than a cheat code.

How do you do it? Simple. Build strength one limb at a time.

Why You Should Train One Limb At A Time

Training each arm and leg separately — called “unilateral training” — is the new sheriff in town when it comes to working out. From soccer players to hockey stars, athletes everywhere are embracing this philosophy. Why? For the same reasons you should use it:

1. It Keeps You SymmetricalRemember, in high school, what it meant if your right bicep was bigger than your left? Don’t be that guy. Train each limb separately to make sure your left and right sides have equal strength; doing so will save you injuries. (And embarrassment.)

If one of your legs is much stronger than the other, how much uneven stress and strain are you putting on your body every time you squat, run, or jump?

With unilateral training, you can identify and correct the problem — bilateral exercises just can’t do that.

2. It’s How You Move Kangaroos and rabbits move by hopping on both feet at the same time. While adorable, it’s not how us humans move. Instead, we jog, run, and sprint by jumping from one leg to the other. (Not as adorable, but much more effective.)

Or think about that weekend pickup game with your buddies: You drive off one leg to change directions, alternate hands while dribbling, shoot with one arm, and hold a beer with the other. Things are constantly moving between left and right sides.